PASCHA - Day Twenty Seven — To Resurrect the Cosmos

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

"The work of Christ therefore presents a physical, one must even say, biological reality. On the cross, death is swallowed up by life. In Christ, death enters into divinity and is destroyed there, for "it does not find a place." Thus, redemption signifies the struggle for life against death and the triumph of life. Christ's humanity constitutes the first-fruits of a new creation. Through it a life force is introduced into the cosmos to resurrect and transfigure it for the final destruction of death. Since the incarnation and resurrection, death is unnerved, is no longer absolute. Everything converges towards the complete restoration of all that is destroyed by death, towards the illumination of the entire cosmos by the glory of God become all in all things, without excluding from this plentitude the freedom of each person before the full awareness his wretchedness, which the light divine will communicate to him."

From Dogmatic Theology by Vladimir Lossky (+1958)

_____

Vladimir Lossky wrote what today is still considered the classic of Orthodox theological literature of the 20th c. And that book is The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. That book had an enormous influence on me when I first encountered it as a young man. I have subsequently read through it many times, together with his other books, as the one from which today's paschal meditation is taken. 

For all inquirers and catechumens, I continue to recommend reading The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church for all those who are ready to study a more challenging work. Not "easy" reading, but deeply inspiring and a "taste" of the richness of the Orthodox Christian Tradition. Lossky combines eloquence of expression and theological depth in his writing, and this has the result of a theological vision that is not only intellectually attractive, but which also speaks directly to the heart and soul, and which creates in us a thirst for the living God encountered in the Church. And that is one of the main goals of theology.

LENTEN MEDITATION - Day XXIII — The Solar Eclipse

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

"And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night."  (Gen. 1:16)

“There was no sound. The eyes dried, the arteries drained, the lungs hushed. There was no world.”  — Annie Dillard, describing her experience of the 1979 eclipse from a vantage point in central Washington State

"Most of our communal enthusiasms these days are human-made: the Oscars, the Super Bowl, the election, the new Beyoncé album. A total solar eclipse is a product of the natural world. It happens without elaborate stagecraft, without any outlay of capital. For this reason alone, it’s a rare occurrence. And there won’t be another in the United States until 2044."  — Melissa Kirsch of the NY Times

The current fascination - if not obsession - with yesterday's total solar eclipse is in itself a very interesting phenomenon. One issue, at least, is the question of motivation: What was behind the movement of an untold number of people all through Mexico and North America who did everything in their power to see as much of the eclipse as possible? Perhaps some of you traveled further north yesterday for that even more "total experience." As to motivation, we have astronomers/scientists, of both the actual and the "backyard" variety, who "live" for such moments. I can only imagine their mounting anticipation in the closing hours of the countdown. And I can only hope that their expectations were met, if not perhaps surpassed. There are countless human beings who are drawn to any and all of the different phenomena in the world of nature, both terrestrial and in the heavens above. Because of how rare it is, a total eclipse is then an event awaited for with great excitement. 

Then, there are theistic persons who are awed by God's omnipotent authority over the cosmos; and who desire to always glorify the "the Maker of heaven and earth and of all things both visible and invisible." The eclipse could have accentuated that impulse toward the glorification of God. Or, there are "religious" people who are determined to find a foreboding "sign" in the eclipse, even if it means embracing wild and baseless apocalyptic speculation, usually of the "doomsday" variety, and based on an offensive misappropriation of the Scriptures. And then, there are the countless multitudes drawn to the eclipse out of a curiosity to witness and participate with others in a rare spectacle drawing us closer for a few precious minutes in a communal experience - mingling shoulder-to-shoulder with our political and cultural rivals as we share a rare moment of peaceful co-existence as members of the human race! I was probably somewhere in that particular mix.

I stood outside the house with Presvytera Deborah and with neighbors up and down the block gazing upward with our solar eclipse glasses protecting us from the power of the sun. In fact, and perhaps strangely, I was equally impressed by just how light it still remained even though about 98% of the sun was covered by the moon here in Cincinnati. What a powerful source of light and energy! There is some real logic to the "solar worship" of days gone by. It was the cult of sol invictus that drew the Emperor Constantine toward monotheism and even the Christian revelation in the fourth century. And then it was over and we returned to the house and the mundane events of a typical day. All-in-all, a bit anti-climatic, but then again we did not witness the effect of a total eclipse and the surreal effect of total darkness for a few minutes in the middle of the day. The images that I later saw were quite impressive. Is that what Annie Dillard was describing in the passage above? And perhaps was that your experience? 

Doing a bit of follow-up reading on the subject, I came across a few voices that expressed some of the motivation and anticipation to behold the eclipse. In one article, I heard the voice of someone called Ali. She said the following: “I’m not a spiritual person. I don’t usually think about the bigger picture of what we’re swimming in. But I felt that at the eclipse. I had a sense that I’m this one person in this huge thing.” Ali further added: “Sometimes, the things that we’re not in control of are really beautiful. It’s not just bad things.” To use an astronomical term, that just may be appropriate in this context, was Ali and countless "non-spiritual" observers of the total eclipse somehow "orbiting" around the notion of a cosmos of not just intrinsic beauty, but of "something" purposeful, structured and designed? Were they longing for something or "Someone" that they cannot quite find the words for, but Who remains paradoxically present in His perceived absence? 

Just what is the "bigger picture?" Or, just what are we "swimming in?" I am hoping that it is not a hauntingly beautiful, but yet empty cosmos utterly devoid of any transcendent presence. Not to crash the party, but without God, I cannot but wonder what anything is really "about," including cosmic phenomena. Random beauty can both attract, but also evoke a certain dread on another, more intuitive level - the level of meaning. I am certainly not denying the meaningfulness of any distinct person's experience of the eclipse regardless of their worldview. And that would include the older man I saw briefly on the television who could not speak because he was weeping so hard when interviewed about what he witnessed. But on a day on which we literally looked up from our earthbound concerns, I think that many of us cannot but turn our minds to the "God question." Is everything around us - on earth below or in the heavens above - God-sourced or self-sourced?

At every Vespers service, when singing or chanting Psalm 104, we glorify our Creator for the magnificence and abundance of His creation: "Thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons, the sun knows its time for setting." (v.19) These two great "lights" are God's handiwork, effortlessly brought into existence by God's uttered Word and perfected by God's Spirit. These two lights were brought to our attention yesterday, and regardless of how momentarily, I do hope that it evoked a sense of awe from our limited vantage point. Or, perhaps we can simply say, together with Mireya Munez of Mexico: “I wanted to thank God because we are alive and He allowed us to see it,” she said. “I hope to be alive to see the next one, too.”

O LORD, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom has thou made them all. (v. 24)

Fr. Steven

Metropolitan Tikhon: On the Church New Year and the Day of Prayer for All Creation

Dear Parish Faithful,

Please read His Beatitude's pastoral letter carefully on the Church New Year and the theme of creation. On Tuesday evening, September 3, we will have a service, entitled "Vespers for the Environment." I believe - but am not certain - that this service comes from the ecumenical patriarchate. It reflects a very Orthodox appreciation for the world in which we live, and our vocation to be good stewards of this world given to us by God as a gift.

Fr. Steven

• Read and download Metropolitan Tikhon's message in PDF format. Original posting here.

• Explore numerous resources for youth, teens, families, and parishes on Caring for God's Creation on this special page on the OCA website.

* * *

The Beginning of the Ecclesiastical New Year 2019 

Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon

on the Beginning of the Ecclesiastical Year,

the Day of Prayer for Creation

September 1, 2019

To the Venerable Hierarchs, Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,

O timeless Word and Son without beginning, united with the Holy Spirit, Co-maker of all and Co-creator of all things visible and invisible: bless the beginning of this year; bring peace to Thine Orthodox people, through the prayers of the Theotokos and all the saints.

Doxastichon for the Indiction at Lord I Call.

On this day, the Ecclesiastical New Year, the church calls us to contemplate and meditate upon our Creator and His Creation. This first day of the New Year not only marks a renewal of the liturgical cycle, but, as the beginning of the year, it draws our attention to the beginning of all and to God who has no beginning. As such, we are given the opportunity to offer prayers for the preservation of the earth, for the welfare of us who inhabit it, who are part of it, and who crown it, and for God to grant us the wisdom and grace to be good and faithful stewards of this earth, the Lord’s creation, given to us freely and always imparting more gifts for our nourishment, benefit, and life.

It is easy to take creation for granted, to see the world around us as comprising inanimate objects and dumb beasts, servants to our purpose and delight, or obstacles in our way. Indeed, in the beginning God placed human beings at the head of creation, creating us in His image and likeness to have “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26) Yet, as with our Lord and his Kingship over us, we are not to dominate nature, but humbly commune with it in a relationship of love, of care, and of stewardship.

While Genesis shows that the world was created for the service of humanity, the Psalmist so eloquently puts into divinely-inspired words the ultimate, higher purpose of God’s creation:

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest… Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy winds fulfilling his command. Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, beasts of the earth and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds. Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, young men and maidens, old men and children! (Ps. 148:1, 7-12)

“Let them praise the name of the Lord!” the Psalmist exclaims. We are of creation, and ultimately ought to be of one mind and purpose with all created things, praising the Lord. While creation praises the Lord by its very existence, we offer our praise to the Lord through our stewardship of creation and created things themselves, a reality revealed so fully in the Eucharist.

Thus, as we celebrate the beginning of the New Ecclesiastical Year, I exhort you to bear in mind the beginning of the world, and the world itself. Let us give thanks for creation, with the words of the beautiful Akathist “Glory to God for all Things” on our lips. Let us contemplate the great mystery of creation, which offers itself for our nourishment and earthly life. Likewise, let us further meditate upon the culmination of creation: Jesus Christ, our Lord, offering his very body and blood, his substance and life, upon the Cross for our life. Let us join the earth, wood and water, sky and stone, praising and worshipping the Lord, the Giver and Creator of Life. May our Lord and Creator inspire us, that we may heal our state of enmity with nature wrought by sin (Gen. 3:15-19), that we may strive for the preservation and renewal of the world, and that we might sing His praises with the earth and all that is in it as good stewards of His creation.

With paternal love and blessings,

+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada

Science and Faith, and 'Pointers' in the vast Cosmos

Dear Parish Faithful,


"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19)

Yesterday evening I attended a lecture entitled "Our Amazing Universe." It was delivered by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, who studied physics at MIT and earned a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. In addition she has continued her research as Hubble Fellow at The John Hopkins University. Very impressive credentials! To use a misused term, I am a "layman" when it comes to astronomy, though this is clearly a fascinating and essential scientific discipline. I would like to simply offer a short summary of a wonderful presentation that captivated a large audience of at least five hundred participants or more.

In the first part of the lecture, we were treated to a computer-generated slide show (on two large mounted wall screens) of some incredible images of the universe, including galaxies, clusters of stars, nebulae, super novae, and the more familiar planets of our own solar system. Dr. Wiseman informed us of the continuing research into the vast dimensions of the universe made possible by the technology of ever-more powerful and sophisticated telescopes. What I was ignorant of is the fact the Hubble telescope circles the earth every ninety minutes! Some of these telescopes are placed above the earth's atmosphere, thus allowing for incredibly clear and wide-ranging views of the cosmos. We saw some wonderful images of star clusters that were so thick that the black space in between was not that visible. And the stars were of different colors: red, blue, green and yellow. Our own vision of the sky is very limited because the enormous amount of light from our urban and suburban settings simply reduces our visibility to the moon and a few other stars. We are missing a lot! One of her points was to impress upon us the sheer unfathomable scope of the universe, which holds billions of galaxies comprised of billions of stars, one of which is our own sun, though it itself appeared as a tiny dot on one of the shots of our own Milky Way galaxy. We may know this already, but in the context of her lecture, combined with the amazing images we saw, the effect of those statistics is rather staggering. Or, we should say "awesome."

Dr. Wiseman is a believing Christian - my guess would be something like an Evangelical - so the second part of her lecture was made up of a series of what she called "philosophical and theological" questions and observations. Her first question was: Does the universe seem to make any sense or have any deeper meaning? She was very even-handed in sharing the views of prominent fellow astronomers/scientists. Some argue that it really does not have any deeper meaning beyond its sheer size. Others find it all very meaningful. (One scientist asked: Does the fact that we even ask the question point to the inherent and unavoidable quest for meaning?) 

This raised the further issue of the relationship between science and religion. As a scientist herself, she presented an eloquent defense of how the two - both of which are concerned with discovering "truth," though each discipline a "truth" of a different sort - need to be and can be reconciled. She presented a "two book approach" to this issue of science and religion: the book of nature/science and the book of the Bible are revealing one and the same reality, though different language and thought-forms are used in the process. This sounded very close to something that St. Maximus the Confessor (+662) once wrote. Though he put it something like this: God is revealed in creation, in the Law, and then in the Person of Christ.

Just as my own aside, I believe strongly that we, as Orthodox Christians, cannot ignore this dialogue, and that we need to articulate our own understanding of this relationship, with a clear-headed sobriety about the amazing scope of scientific discovery over the course of the last few centuries. We cannot ignore the discovery that we live on a planet within a universe that is over thirteen billion years old. This allows us the freedom of some exciting and deeply meaningful theological thought. In other words, we cannot abandon the realm of science - and the universe itself - to a one-sided secular mode of thought.

Returning to Dr. Wiseman, once she impressed upon us the vastness of the universe. And how it reveals the power, majesty and awesomeness of God. (Our own Prayer of the Great Blessing of Water formulates this in a rather poetic and archaic form, but the point is well-made). She informed us that the overwhelming majority of the scientific community now unhesitatingly accepts the "Big Bang theory" of the origin of the universe. Atheists, however, are somewhat reluctant in their acceptance, because it points to the idea of a "Creator." Yet, she asked the unavoidable question of our own perceived insignificance within this vast realm. How short is our life in comparison to that of a star! This allowed her to remind us that "ancient man" was perplexed by those same questions, including the author of Psalm 8, whom she thought was a shepherd gazing up into the night sky (with a clearer vision than our own!):

"When I look at the heavens, the work
of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;
what is man that thou are mindful of him?
and the son of man that thou dost
care for him?"

Bu the psalmist then includes this incredible thought:

"Yet though hast made him little less
than God,
and dost crown him with glory and
honor.
Thou hast given him dominion over
the works of thy hands..."

Dr. Wiseman interpreted this "dominion" as the capability of scientific thought. For regardless of how insignificant we may seem, it is only the human person who can consciously reflect and contemplate the vastness of the cosmos.

And she finally made the connection between the universe and Christ. Quoting the unrivaled Prologue to St. John's Gospel, she reminded us that this vast universe is the creative work of a Person - the divine Word of God through whom the Father brought all things into existence. And then that this divine Person became incarnate - "The Word became flesh." Everything is thus connected to and given meaning in Christ. That, at least, is the "faith perspective" of her lecture. Dr. Wiseman does not believe that science can be used to "prove" the existence of God; but there are "pointers" within the cosmos, revealed in the Scriptures, that can indicate that direction. Archbishop Kallistos Ware makes the same point in The Orthodox Way.

This was a very well-thought out presentation by Dr. Jennifer Wiseman. With clarity and conviction; and yet with her vast array of scientific knowledge clearly present within her soft-spoken and humble demeanor, she led the audience to a deep reflection on the nature of scientific discovery and how that can lead us to Christ.

An evening well spent!

How is the fulness of God's glory achieved in us?

Dear Parish Faithful,

GREAT LENT - The Thirty Ninth Day

"He prays unceasingly who combines prayer  with necessary duties and duties with prayer. Only in this way can we find it practicable to fulfill the commandment to pray always. It consists in regarding the whole of Christian existence as a single great prayer. What we are accustomed to call prayer is only a part of it."

"How is the fulness of God's glory achieved in each one of us? If what I do and say is for the glory of God, my words and deeds are full of God's glory. If my plans and undertakings are for the glory of God, if my food and drink and all my actions are for the glory of God, then it is to me also that the words are addressed: 'The earth is full of his glory'."

"Every Christian, even if he lacks any education, knows that every place is a part of the universe and that the universe is the temple of God. He prays in every place with the eyes of his senses closed and those of his soul awake, and in this way he transcends the whole world. He does not stop at the vault of heaven bur reaches the heights above it, and, as though out of this world altogether, he offers his prayer to God, led by God's Spirit."

- Origen (†254)

Redeeming the Time

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

In Ephesians 5:15-16 we read, "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil." 

To "walk" -- in the context of this passage -- is a metaphor for how we conduct our lives.  We can live wisely or unwisely.  To "walk" unwisely means that we can easily resemble a "fool." Avoiding such a false step, but on the contrary walking with wisdom, will depend on how much effort we put into "making the most of the time."  

This can also be translated as "redeem the time."  To redeem the time is, first, not to waste time, especially on what is superfluous. More positively, it could mean to spend our time in worthwhile pursuits, seeking to do the good in all of life's various circumstances.  We are children of God at all times, not only when we are in church or before the icons in our domestic prayer corner.  How we live and how we interact with others is basically how we express our Christian faith on a daily basis.

On a deeper level, to "redeem the time" could also mean to sanctify time, both remembering and honoring the fact that the full expanse of our lives — our lifetime — is a gift from God, for as humans our lives unfold within the time of this world as created by God.  Our time is limited because our lives are of finite duration.  An awareness of this can go a long way in how we appreciate -- and therefore redeem -- the time.

We are drawing closer to the celebration of the Lord's Incarnation.  We can redeem this time within the rhythm of ecclesial time, the time of the Church.  We need to pick up where we perhaps left off during this long and enjoyable Thanksgiving Day weekend.  We have just feasted along with our fellow Americans; now let us fast as Orthodox Christians. To squander a season of preparation before a feast by neglecting prayer, almsgiving and fasting is to act unwisely if we claim to be serious Orthodox Christians.  Any struggle against our lower instincts to eat, drink and be merry as the most meaningful pursuits in life is one sound way of redeeming the time.  One more obvious example of the "battle of the calendars."

The Apostle Paul writes that "the days are evil."  In a fallen world, every single day presents us with the possibility -- if not probability -- of encountering evil on a grand or limited scale.  To somehow believe the days we are living in are not all that evil is to be lost in a wishful thinking divorced from any rational perception of reality.  We live in a time wherein people have forgotten God, and through this forgetfulness lose sight of their basic humanity.  To de-sanctify the world (by claiming that the world is an autonomous reality and a result of blind forces) is to debase humanity, for only through faith in God can we have faith in the goodness of human nature.

We can be "in the world," but not "of the world," if we choose to "make the most of the time, because the days are evil."  One of the key words here is "choose."  Do we really have a hard choice to make?  Hardly!  In my humble opinion, within the grace-filled life of the Church, the choices before us are very easy to make!

Here is a simple prayer (but just try to put it into daily practice!) from the diary of Elder Anthony of Optina [†1820] that teaches us how to redeem the time.

O God, be attentive unto helping me.  O Lord, make haste to help me.

Direct, O Lord God, everything that I do, read and write, everything that I say and try to understand to the glory of Your holy Name.  From You have I received a good beginning, and my every deed end in You.

Grant, O God, that I might not anger You, my Creator, in word, deed or thought, but may all my deeds, counsels and thoughts be to the glory of Your most holy Name.  Amen.

From the Diary of the Elder Anthony of Optina, 1820

Only Wonder Grasps Anything

Dear Parish Faithful,

Recently, I read an article that dealt with the issue of the possible convergence between theology and science.  The specific theme of the article was an analysis of the current Pope's remarks on the compatibility of belief in God and evolution.  Not addressing that specific issue here, I did want to share an interesting metaphor attributed to Albert Einstein on the wonder of the created universe with which the article closed.

"We are like a little child entering a huge library..." — Albert Einstein

"The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe," said Einstein.  " We are like a little child entering a huge library.  The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues.  The child knows that someone must have written these books.  It does not know who or how.  It does not understand the languages in which they were written.  But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books -- a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects."

I could never discern exactly where Einstein stood on the "God question."  Perhaps he was deliberately elusive about this ultimate question.  Yet, a metaphor as the one above, certainly has a theistic ring about it, even though I have read elsewhere that he did not accept the notion of a "personal God."  However, this passage seems to point toward a conscious "Designer."  I certainly read the metaphor in that light, as the author of the article also read it, for which reason he closed his remarks with it.

Be that as it may, Einstein's passage reminds me of something Saint Gregory of Nyssa said back in the 4th century -- Saint Gregory was clearly one of the greatest minds of that era, and well beyond: 

"Concepts create idols,

only wonder grasps anything."

Some of the things said by the Church Fathers are better left to stand without further commentary -- as I believe is true of these words of Saint Gregory -- but rather meditated, reflected and thought over for their deepest meaning.  As denizens of the information age, the question for us may be the following: Is there anything that truly fills us with wonder?  And what good is a mind packed with information but unable to experience a sense of wonder when reflecting upon the seemingly infinite order of created things, both animate and inanimate? 

I am convinced that the Church is the "place" in which we can maintain our sense of wonder to a remarkable degree.  How can it be otherwise when we believe that the very creative Word of God became incarnate as a "little Child," and that after suffering the Cross He was raised from the dead?

  

Fascinating as it is, the question of the "how" of the existence of the universe -- and of our place in it -- is insignificant when compared to the "why" of the existence of the universe.  We believe and we affirm that everything that exists does so because God exists, and the God Who exists is the "Maker of heaven and earth of all things both visible and invisible."